UPDATE 19/11: Qatar Airways has reversed its decision (saying it was a “communications error”) and business class award seats will continue to come with lounge access and other standard benefits.

PREVIOUS 18/11:

Qantas partner and oneworld alliance member Qatar Airways has overhauled its fare structure to offer several types of business class fares, including an ‘unbundled’ type called Business Class Classic which excludes lounge access and advance seat selection but allegedly comes with a reduced price.

As part of this move, Executive Traveller reports that the airline will assign business class award bookings to the Business Class Classic fare, meaning passengers will not have automatic access to a lounge at the airport nor advance seat selection – perks that are almost universally expected when travelling business class, including on points.

Seat selection will only be available when customers check in. Other benefits like priority baggage tagging, priority boarding, and inflight dining and entertainment will continue to be provided.

Choosing your seat with Qatar becomes more complicated

This is a shocking move for a ‘premium’ airline and will no doubt come as a big surprise and disappointment to passengers. I imagine many will not be aware they can’t access the lounge until they arrive at the airport and are told by staff. That will ruin the experience for many people.

No matter whether you book using Qatar Airways’ Qmiles or Qantas Points, you’ll now need to rely on status to get you free advance seat selection and lounge access, or pay extra to do so.

Travellers with gold or platinum status with Qatar or Qantas, or the equivalent with another oneworld airline, will continue to have complimentary lounge access. For everyone else, you’ll need to find a lounge with paid entry (which does include Qatar’s Doha lounges, costing upwards of $100 per person) or rely on a credit card to get you in (eg. the American Express Platinum Card comes with worldwide lounge access).

Travellers with elite status should also continue to have free advance seat selection.

This is such a disappointing move from Qatar Airways. Let’s hope other airlines don’t follow suit.

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With Covid-19 restrictions easing and travel perking up around the country, Qantas is set to open most of its airport lounges by early December.

This is great news for eligible Qantas customers with travel plans over the summer, who can now look forward to a comfortable pre-departure experience.

As reported today by Executive Traveller, Qantas will open the doors to most domestic airport lounges on December 2.

This will include the majority of Qantas Clubs, including those adjacent to Business Lounges which are already open.

The main exception is Melbourne, where only the Business Lounge is expected to welcome travellers (all eligible lounge guests can use this lounge, including gold frequent flyers and Qantas Club members, subject to capacity).

As restrictions further ease in Victoria and travel volumes increase, Qantas will eventually re-open the Qantas Club.

Some regional lounges such as in Darwin, Devonport and Launceston don’t have a set reopening date, but will welcome guests when there’s sufficient demand, according to Qantas.

The lounges in Rockhampton and Port Hedland will remain closed due to terminal works.

Qantas hasn’t yet updated the full list of lounge re-opening dates, but you can keep your eye on it here.

The lounge experience has changed a little due to Covid. As part of the Qantas Group’s ‘Fly Well’ program, a number of measures have been put in place to promote the health and wellbeing of passengers and staff, including:

• capping the number of guests to comply with state-specific restrictions on indoor gatherings
• a hosted All-Day Snacking Station replacing ‘self serve’ buffets and drink stations, or alternatively a ‘tray-around service’ which sees staff bring individually-plated dishes to your seat
• disposable coffee cups
• additional cleaning protocols
• sanitising stations

Virgin Australia has unveiled a new type of travel credit which can be used to book flights until June 2023. The Future Flight Credit replaces some of the credits passengers received for Virgin and Tigerair flights and holiday packages that were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Customers eligible to receive a Future Flight Credit include:

• certain customers with flights or holiday package bookings made prior to 20 April 2020 that have been cancelled
• customers holding Travel Bank credits issued prior to 20 April 2020
• customers with a claim for monetary expenses in connection with a flight or holiday package booking made prior to 20 April 2020.

Virgin says it will notify customers who are entitled to receive a credit, or you can enquire directly by calling 13 67 89.

If you made your booking via a travel agent, you will need to contact your agent for assistance.

The credit comes with some strings attached.

First, it can be used to book economy or business class flights operated by Virgin Australia, but not codeshare flights with partners such as Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways.

Bookings must be made by 31 July 2022 for travel to 30 June 2023. The booking can be in anyone’s name, and the credit can be used over multiple bookings.

The credit must be used to book a specific fare type called a Future Credit Fare, and Virgin says that availability will be limited. In other words, just because there are unsold seats on a flight doesn’t mean you’ll be able to book a seat using your credit.

A Future Credit Fare will need to be available, and Virgin recommends “booking early”.

As well as paying for the fare itself, the credit can be used to upgrade to Economy X as well as for excess baggage, carbon offset and lounge pass fees.

To find out more, check out the info Virgin has published on its website here.

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Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program has released a program update which announces a range of cuts to benefits with partner airlines. In separate news, CEO Paul Scurrah is also set to leave the airline in early November.

Airline Partner Operated flights with a VA flight number

Velocity members will no longer earn Velocity Points, Status Credits or a Tier Bonus on codeshare flights operated by partner airlines (i.e. flights with a Virgin Australia (VA) flight number). Retrospective claims for missing points and status credits must be submitted by 14 April 2021.

Oddly, Velocity members will continue to earn points and status credits when travelling with these partner airlines under their own flight codes (eg. SQ with Singapore Airlines).

Velocity members will continue to earn Tier Bonus when travelling on Virgin Australia, Delta Air Lines and Etihad Airways.

Partner Airline Lounge Access

Velocity Platinum and Gold members will no longer be able to access the Alitalia, Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines lounges. Velocity Platinum and Gold members can continue to access all other eligible Velocity airline partner lounges.

Delta Air Lines

Velocity Platinum, Gold and Silver members are no longer eligible for Complimentary Upgrades to Delta Comfort+ and Velocity members will no longer be able to upgrade with points on Delta operated flights booked with a VA flight number.

Velocity Members will continue to receive frequent flyer benefits including earning and redeeming points when flying on Delta. Lounge access will also be available to eligible members.

Predictably, the airline says these changes are a “consequence of COVID-19 and some government-imposed international travel restrictions”, though the shake-up is also likely due to the airline restructuring under new owners. It’s not clear if these changes are temporary or if the benefits will be reinstated when international travel resumes.

CEO resigns

Virgin has also confirmed that CEO Paul Scurrah will step down in early November, to be replaced by former Jetstar boss Jayne Hrdlicka.

This comes after media reports of turmoil within Virgin’s executive ranks over tension with new owner Bain Capital about the low-cost direction it wants to take the airline.

In a statement today, the airline’s administrator has reaffirmed that “Virgin Australia will not be repositioned as a low-cost carrier. Virgin Australia will be a ‘hybrid’ airline, offering great value to customers by delivering a distinctive Virgin experience at competitive prices. This will appeal to the full spectrum of travellers, from premium corporate through to more budget-focused customers.”

We’ll see if this remains true when Bain Capital officially takes the reins next month.

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It’s no secret that Aussies love to ‘buy now, pay later’. This convenient way of paying for purchases has absolutely taken off in recent years, and it’s little wonder why: you get to enjoy the flexibility of paying for things over time while avoiding high interest charges.

With millions of Australians embracing BNPL, established credit card issuers like American Express are joining the party. Amex has just launched a new feature called Plan It™ Instalments, which allows eligible card members to pay off balances in equal monthly instalments, with a modest monthly fee and 0% interest.

We’re big fans of American Express cards here at The High Life, and we love the flexibility Plan It provides. Amex has made it super easy to use, too: you simply spend on your card as usual, and then when your statement arrives, you can set up instalment payments of 3, 6, 9 or twelve months – which is much longer than BNPL firms like Afterpay and Zip allow.

Since we know many of our readers will be interested in Plan It, we’ve teamed up with American Express to produce this guide.

Who can access Plan It

Plan It is available to individuals who hold an American Express credit card. Almost all of Amex’s consumer cards are credit cards – they’re the ones with a fixed credit limit.

Plan It isn’t available to individuals who hold a charge card, or business or corporate card holders.

How Plan It works

With Plan It, you pay off a portion of your statement balance in equal monthly instalments. The minimum portion is $150 and there’s no fixed maximum – but it must consist of new purchases from your most recent statement (note that some balances may not be eligible for Plan It, including balance transfers, cash advances, fees, interest, or balances on a promotional rate).

You can choose the length of the payment plan: either 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. You can also have multiple instalment plans running at the same time if you wish.

Once a plan is set up, you don’t pay interest on the amount. Rather, you’re charged a fixed monthly fee of 0.42% – 1.04% of the starting plan balance, depending on the card you hold (the fee will be displayed upfront before you start a plan). There’s a useful calculator on Amex’s website that lets you see how this works.

How to set up a plan

When you get your statement, you can create a plan any time before the payment due date. If you have a direct debit set up on the account, you can create a plan up to 24 hours before the direct debit due date.

Once you’ve received your statement, simply log into the Amex app or your online account. Then, follow these three steps:

1. choose how much of your balance you want to pay off with Plan It
2. select the length of the plan: either 3, 6, 9 or 12 months
3. review the details and T&Cs, and if you’re happy, click “Submit”.

Easy!

You plan will be set up within 24-48 hours and the details will be visible in your online account and Amex app.

A summary of all your instalment plans will also appear on your monthly statements.

How to make payments

When your plan is set up, the minimum payment on future monthly statements will include any instalment amounts that are due. Be aware that if you don’t pay the minimum monthly amount by the due date, your account may become overdue and you’ll be charged a late payment fee and interest.

You can cancel your plan any time if you wish (there’s no cancellation fee). When you cancel the plan, the remaining balance will go back into your standard card balance. You won’t be charged any more monthly plan fees.

More information about how Plan It works, including detailed FAQs, is available on Amex’s website.

Summing Up

No matter how big or small your purchases are, Plan It gives you a handy new way to pay them off. By opting to pay in fixed monthly instalments, you could be in a better position to manage your budget, plan future purchases and save money on interest charges.

As with any payment option, it’s important to carefully consider whether it meets your needs before going ahead with it.

To find out more about Plan It, we encourage you to visit Amex’s website here.

This article has been prepared in partnership with American Express.